Division Champs!

Seattle didn't lose to Cleveland, which isn't much of a shock, but it doesn't matter, because Arizona trucked the Eagles, 40-17. It was tied at 10 at one point in the second quarter, but obviously Arizona rolled after that. The Eagles turned the ball over 4 times, and David Johnson ran for 187 yards and 3 TDs. Throw in another 34 yards from Kerwynn Williams, and 11 from Stefan Taylor, and Arizona ran for 230 yards. Arizona is (once again) not going to have anyone near the top of the league's rushing totals, what with the rotating cast of backs thanks to all the injuries, but that Arizona has still had a productive rushing game all season is really encouraging.

I'm not clear what the prognosis is on Mathieu's knee. He picked off Bradford with about 3 minutes left in the game to ice things, but as he started to run with it, it looked like the end of his right foot got caught on the back of his left calf, and maybe twisted the knee. It doesn't sound like it's a serious injury, but I'd prefer Arizona's secondary be healthy going into the postseason. The D doesn't get many sacks - Freeney leads the team with 4, and the team has 25 total - so there's a lot of pressure of the defensive backs. With some of the QBs they'll see in the playoffs, they need the best guys they have.

So Arizona locked up the NFC West, and there is still an (extremely slim) chance they could get the #1 seed. By the same token, they still haven't locked up the first round bye, since Oakland couldn't beat the Packers. So Arizona needs to down Green Bay this next week to take care of that, so it doesn't come down to beating Seattle in Week 17. I'm not sure the Seahawks would care - they're in the playoffs, but are stuck as a wild card, so Carroll might rest his guys. On the other hand, Seattle might enjoy ruining Arizona's chances of getting a bye. Better not to take chances. Just beat the Packers and we'll call it good.